"Getting Better" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, based on an original idea by McCartney. It was recorded by The Beatles for the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The song, musically reminiscent of the hit single "Penny Lane", moves forward by way of regular chords, produced by Lennon's guitar, McCartney's electric piano, and George Martin, who struck the strings of a pianette with a mallet. These heavily accented and repetitive lines cause the song to sound as if it is based on a drone. Lead guitarist George Harrison adds an Indian tambura part to the final verse, which further accentuates this impact.
The song's title and music suggest optimism but some of the song's lyrics have a more negative tone. In this sense, it reflects the contrasting personas of the two songwriters. In response to McCartney's line, "It's getting better all the time," Lennon replies, "It can't get no worse!" Lennon also claimed the lyric that begins "I used to be cruel to my woman..." was a memory of his past, when he hit the women in his life.
According to Hunter Davies, the initial idea for the song's title came from a phrase often spoken by Jimmie Nicol, the group's stand-in drummer for the Australian leg of a 1964 tour.
